Chapter 18: How Can I Live Without My Phone!

No one expected Yang Mianmian to react so terrifyingly after her phone was taken; Afei was so scared by her scream that he inadvertently let the frenzied Yang Mianmian catch up and snatch her phone back.

The moment Yang Mianmian got her phone back, her agitated and angry demeanor disappeared, replaced by a pleased and addicted smile as she continued to scroll through her phone.

The sudden turn of events left everyone else in the hall feeling suddenly heavy-hearted.

"…This is kind of serious," Zhou Mo couldn't help but murmur. "Her reaction was way too intense."

"She's just like those mutants glued to their phones, has she already become one?" Lu Jun couldn't help but step back.

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

Yang Mianmian's condition might already be beyond recovery, possibly invaded by some unknown mutating virus.

Brother Xiong's expression changed several times before he finally raised his hand: "We can't just give up on her like this, let me try to snap her out of her addiction!"

Previously, his bear paw had snapped Zhou Mo out of his obsession with hotel promotional ads with just a slap.

Zhou Mo's mouth twitched fiercely, but he ultimately didn't say anything.

Compared to a face swollen like a bun, being so addicted to the phone that one forgets about survival tasks is far more terrifying.

So, Brother Xiong's massive palm fiercely slapped Yang Mianmian's face: "Girl! Wake up! Stop looking at your phone!"

Chen Shijin, hearing that slap, felt a bit of sympathy pain in his own face.

Yang Mianmian was even slapped several steps back, falling to the ground. If Brother Xiong hadn't controlled his strength, she might have been sent flying.

However, even at this point, Yang Mianmian, lying on the ground, still managed to hold her phone steady in front of her eyes, not even sparing Brother Xiong a glance, just swelling her face and warning, "Annoying, don't disturb me looking at my phone!"

Brother Xiong: "…"

It turns out, not even the greatest force can prevent deep addiction.

The failure of the anti-addiction measures made everyone's already tense emotions even tighter.

"Things are a bit bad," Zhao Xiaofeng was the first to speak: "Last night, while I was bathing, I couldn't control the urge to grab my phone and look at it.

That desire was too intense, like a thirsty person wanting to drink water or a hungry person wanting to eat, even more unbearable than that, so in the end, I still looked at my phone."

"But I actually knew it was wrong, that I shouldn't do it, yet I still did. If it weren't for Sister Fang pulling me away and slapping me, I guess I would have ended up like Yang Mianmian."

Song Fang nodded: "At that time, Xiaofeng's condition was similar to Mianmian's. And I also couldn't control myself while bathing. It was Xiaofeng who helped me."

Then Afei also spoke up: "You guys too? Liu Ge, Lu Jun, and I were almost the same. I was in the bathroom, but who doesn't play with their phone while sitting there?

I couldn't help but play a couple of games. If it weren't for Lu Jun knocking on the door asking if I had fallen in, and then Liu Ge breaking open the door to slap each of us, I guess I would have sat on the toilet playing games all night."

Afei's expression was one of fright as he said this: "Then my legs would have been ruined. I might have been gone too."

Then Wang Baojie, Brother Xiong, and Zhou Mo all nodded, indicating they encountered the same uncontrollable urge to look at and play with their phones. Everyone was saved from addiction by their buddies.

But Yang Mianmian, obviously without a roommate, fell into it beyond rescue.

In the end, everyone turned their attention to Chen Shijin.

"Mouth Bro also lives alone in the presidential suite, did you encounter the same situation?"

Chen Shijin nodded: "I couldn't resist watching a movie while bathing, but I snapped out of it afterward." And devoured a bunch of spicy chicken feet.

At this moment, Wang Baojie solemnly concluded: "So, last night, all of us were drawn to our phones, and this attraction was almost uncontrollable."

"There was nothing the first night, but by the second, it was like this."

So on this third night, will they also be unable to resist, just like Yang Mianmian?

Everyone fell silent, their eyes growing wider as they looked at each other, finally understanding the terror hidden beneath the relative peace of the "City of Phones."

They could unite to fight against mutated monsters or snatch carts from snack vendors; these monsters could still be defeated with effort.

But if they could fight external enemies, how would they deal with the enemy within?

"No wonder some say phones are a mental poison," Zhou Mo said with a bitter smile. "It's really tricky. And now, I can't help but want to look at my phone. It feels like it's been ages since I last looked."

As he spoke, Zhou Mo couldn't resist reaching into his pocket to grab his phone.

The last of his words seemed to have reminded the others, as they all subconsciously started to look for their phones.

So, Chen Jingshen watched in disbelief as these people, who a second ago declared phones as poison, now bowed their heads in unison. They fell into addiction so quickly, even Wang Baojie couldn't resist.

Such a quick descent into addiction!

Chen Jingshen kicked the white dog beside him with his leg: "Go, bite them."

They couldn't be allowed to continue looking at their phones.

The white dog continued rubbing against Chen Jingshen's leg with its head, as if it didn't understand human speech.

These trash are worth the dog opening its noble mouth?

Chen Jingshen: "Do you want to get a big smack?"

White dog: .

The white dog bared its teeth and kicked the pink sidekick, the big-eyed buddy, with its hind legs.

If the dog won't go, the sidekick will.

The pink big-eyed buddy instantly sprang up with a knife: "I'll cut you down!"

The pink big-eyed minion delivered a cut to Wang Baojie and Brother Xiong, albeit with a bit of restraint. Yet, each strike drew blood.

"Hiss!"

"Damn?"

Wang Baojie and Brother Xiong were cut in succession, the pain snapping them back to reality, shocked by the sight of those around them absorbed in their phones.

They quickly snatched phones and raised their hands in a bid to prevent addiction, and after each person had received a slap leaving a mark on their faces, Wang Baojie cautiously declared, "The allure of our phones is growing stronger. Our eyes are getting bigger, and by the time they reach the size of Yang Mianmian's, it might be too late to save us."

"So, let's not hold onto our phones anymore. Since we can't control ourselves, let's have someone else help us!"

Having said that, he looked towards Chen Shijin and lifted everyone's phones up to him as if making an offering.

"Mouth Bro, you're the most reliable one here. Take our phones, please."

Chen Shijin: To the uninitiated, these might as well be bars of gold.

Chen Shijin sighed and eventually took everyone's phones. Lu Jun then spoke with a hint of mischief, "Cousin, do you want me to hold onto your phone? I promise not to let you look at it." The thought of possibly delivering a smack was thrilling, oh wow!

Chen Shijin looked at him, "Your teasing is almost suffocating me. Shut up, or I'll have to smack you."

Lu Jun immediately looked down, hurt, "I didn't mean anything by it."

Chen Shijin rolled his eyes as he stuffed nine phones into a tote bag, a special item from the royal hotel.

Afterwards, everyone left the hotel for the other five must-see spots in Mobile City. As they set off, there was still a sense of anticipation in everyone’s hearts. Despite the hardships of the previous day, they had successfully tackled two check-in points.

Surely they could successfully complete one check-in today, right? With two days left of the five-day timeline given by the survival task, they just needed to complete one check-in per day to be on schedule.

However, after visiting four check-in points in a row and encountering nearly identical requirements at each, everyone’s faces turned extremely sour.

“It’s deliberate, they must be doing this on purpose! The requirements for four consecutive check-in points are to spend an hour on the phone in a scenic park, garden, high platform, or lakeside!

Can we even look at our phones in our current state? Watching a phone for an hour would directly turn us into Yang Mianmian!” Afei angrily declared by the lakeside, feeling somewhat hopeless.

The Irrigation Lake was the sixth check-in point they reached that morning, having visited all the recommended spots on the tourist map except for the mobile maze.

Besides the Illuminated Street and Melody Street, which had check-in challenges, these places were natural landscapes with no real challenges. The absence of challenges turned out to be the scariest part, as the check-in requirements blatantly revealed the malice of Mobile City.

Everyone stood by the lake, cluelessly staring at the water, unsure of what to do.

Chen Jingshen, looking at the beautiful lake that felt completely different from day to night, reached out to grab the dog’s ear: “Do you recognize this place? Feel any urge to swipe on a tablet and like some spicy dance videos?”

The white dog lifted its head, cocked it to one side, grinned, and wagged its tail, still wearing a clueless smile as if to say, "I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Keep pretending," Chen Jingshen scoffed, curious to see what trick the dog was really up to.

Then, with a swift turn, Chen Jingshen slapped away Afei's hand reaching for his bag: "Are you asking to be chopped?"

Afei looked sheepishly: "Of course, I don't want that. I just wanted to glance at the phone. Yes, just a glance! Just to check the time, brother, can you let me have a look at your phone?"

Chen Jingshen remained unmoved by Afei's fidgeting.

Then, Song Fang approached: "Mr. Chen, the scenery here is quite beautiful. I’d like to take a photo with my phone as a keepsake. Could I borrow your phone for just a minute?"

She appeared calm, but her eyes were fixed intently on Chen Jingshen's bag.

Smiling, Chen Jingshen shifted the bag to his left hand. He understood; enduring the whole morning might have pushed everyone to their limits.

As a result, Liu Chengli, Zhou Mo, Zhao Xiaofeng, and Xiong Ge all crowded around him.

"Brother Chen, please take out the phone for us. The check-in requirement here is to look at the phone."

"Exactly, Brother Chen. We’re doing this to complete the survival task. Don’t worry, we won’t get addicted to the phone. It’s just for checking in."

"Yes, my self-control is still very strong. I promise I won’t get addicted."

Xiong Ge even stretched out his hand to snatch the bag: "Yeah, come on, Chen Jingshen, you must be tired from carrying the bag all this way! Let Xiong Ge carry it for you with my strong arms!"

By the end, his expression had turned somewhat ferocious.

Chen Jingshen suddenly realized that he was surrounded by the other eight people without knowing when. Except for Wang Baojie, who was still struggling, the other seven were staring intently at the bag in his hand, eager to see the phone.

It seemed like if he didn’t comply, they would resort to something drastic.

"Chen Jingshen, I’ll hold them off, you run!"

Wang Baojie eventually broke free, attempting to hold off seven on his own.

But without being able to use strong moves, facing seven alone was clearly impossible for him, and Chen Jingshen was tightly encircled, with no chance to run.

At this moment, the voice of the guide, which had been silent since yesterday afternoon, finally rang again in Chen Jingshen’s ear.

"Cackle, cackle! What’s the use of you being the only one sober, and what’s the use of them being the first to succumb? First them, then you, none of you can escape! Hee hee hee!"

"The devourers of the City of Phones are among the oldest and most prolific devourers in the land of exile! Even advanced travelers have died countless times in this city, only escaping by stepping over the bodies of others!

You noobs, thinking you can survive without turning on each other? Dream on! You’ll never get out!"

Hearing this, Chen Jingshen’s eyes darkened.

This guide always blabs critical information at crucial moments.

Like how relying on check-ins is likely impossible to leave the City of Phones, and perhaps catching someone else to watch the phone for you, then check-in, might be a workaround.

Snap, the bag in his hand was snatched away by Xiong Ge, and everyone excitedly grabbed their phones to start browsing.

The white dog tried to bite and protect its master when Xiong Ge made his move, but as soon as it opened its mouth, those fair, slender fingers pinched its mouth shut.

It felt the warmth and softness of the hand holding its mouth, and although it could have broken free, it obediently closed its mouth. Yet, those blue dog eyes kept staring at this human.

How could it tolerate being bullied by its own kind?

Even that trash that loves to spread its net far and wide mocked them, so why not retort?

It's because it had already devoured them all! Such weak and useless creatures!

Then, the white dog saw this weak and useless creature curl his lips into a smile, look up at those humans obsessed with their phones, and utter one word:

"Trap!"

Consequently, the seven people browsing their phones by the lake, including Wang Baojie who was still struggling, collectively fell into a pit that suddenly appeared beneath them!

White dog: .

"Bury!"

Then, the soil around the pit buried these eight individuals solidly, leaving only their heads, desperately stretching hands, and phones exposed.

White dog: .

Okay, uselessness aside.

The dog knew not to act rashly.

Chen Jin leisurely walked past this group of human potatoes, taking away the phones they still desperately wanted to look at even though they were buried.

Then, under their initially angry, gradually calming, and finally fearful and despondent gazes, the young man walked to the lakeside to look at his reflection in the water.

"Everyone, I think we can't continue with the survival tasks."

"How about we do something big?"

Wang Baojie and the others suddenly looked up, reminiscing the thrill of stealing the pushcart.

The guide's mocking laughter in Chen Jin's ear suddenly jammed.

[Ah ah ah, you damned human, what are you going to do! What else do you want to do? I warn you not to mess around! Otherwise, you will definitely die with—zzzt how could you possibly—zzt, find zzzt?!]

Amid the guide's last incredulous zzzts, Chen Jin saw his left eye reflecting glimmers of silver light on the lake surface. He plucked a "black hair strand" that was wriggling and struggling between his fingers.

Then, without hesitation, he crushed it and threw it away.

This time, his surroundings fell into complete silence.

"The core of the city must be that mobile labyrinth."

The young man lifted his gaze in a certain direction.

"Let's take down this world."

Instantly, all the buried potato people gasped in shock.

Saving us with such a big move?!